


Wake Up Call

by puptart



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Other, Ren is technically Runner Twelve, Short & Sweet, Sneaky Sara is Sneaky, Van Ark would be so proud, but they're also basically Runner Five, we chopped Canon Runner Five into little pieces and molded them into new characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/pseuds/puptart
Summary: A snapshot of what constitutes a date between Ren Swift and Sara Smith
Relationships: Runner Five/Sara Smith
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Wake Up Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crownleys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crownleys/gifts).



> I wrote this as a little character taster for my dear Emma's (crownleys.tumblr.com) Runner Five (Ren Swift), who is dubbed Runner Twelve in our little crossover AU we have together. They are terrible and nasty and I love them.

Ren sleeps lighter now than they used to. Every little rustle, thump, and snore stirs them awake, and tent walls don’t exactly muffle much. 

Somehow, despite this, Sara only wakes them when she wants to. 

“Up, Twelve,” she whispers, hand gripping their shoulder and giving them a shake. Ren’s heart lurches, fear turning to excitement almost instantly. They crack an eyelid and look at her.

It’s still dark, just the barest hint of murky light giving them an idea of her outline leaning over them. She smells like gun oil. Ren tastes electricity on their tongue. 

“Where are we going?” they whisper back. Behind them, Five grunts in their sleep, but doesn’t rouse. 

Sara stands and steps out of the tent without a word. Ren dresses as quickly as they can, and follows.

Abel Township is on the edge of wakefulness in the pre-dawn of the day. It won’t be long before the children are up and darting around, and the adults soon following to start their work. Only the overnight soldiers are up now, and they pay neither runner much mind. 

“Where are we going?” Ren asks again. Sara sends them a sly smile, ducking into the shadows. They follow, a grin forming on their face.

“You always do try to spoil surprises,” Sara chides lightly. Ren reaches for her hand, and she threads their fingers together as they skulk along their usual sneaking-out-of-Abel route. Security has been tighter recently, but not tight enough for either of them to even notice.

Ren doesn’t feel bad about the sneaking and lying and the secrets they keep, not really. It’s all necessary, it’s all for the good of their friends. What they do feel the curl of guilt in their stomach for is how exciting it is to do. They feel strong and clever when they follow Sara, when they do what they need to do to put her plan into action. She’s bright as the burning sun, and Ren is the moon, reflecting back the light she casts out.

Sara leads them down a little used trail, and conversation ceases. No lights, no operator, and no weapons to draw attention; it all means they have to simply outrun and avoid zombies, which takes a little more focus than killing them. 

“This is Dedlock territory,” Ren whispers two kilometers into their journey. Sara presses a finger to her lips, and nods. Again, they fall into silence, Ren following Sara’s lead. 

“I have an informant,” Sara tells them once they hit a clearing in the trees. They leave a few meters between themselves and the treeline to avoid zombies, but stay close enough that a quick sprint will provide cover. “They’ll be meeting us soon. Duck down next to me, honey.”

Ren’s heart thumps hard, their blood racing in their veins, but they obey, hard as it is for them to stay still. Sara reaches out and grips their hand again, which calms them not at all, but at least makes them feel like they can do this for her. 

“Now we wait,” Sara says. Ren nods.

They wait.


End file.
